IMPACT OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ON STUDENTS JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN BASIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN NORTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the impact of natural and artificial instructional materials on junior secondary school students achievement in Basic Science and Technology in Plateau State, Nigeria. The research involved pre-test, post-test, non-equivalent, control group design, utilizing intact classes from four randomly selected schools. All the 208 JSS Basic Science and Technology students in the sample schools participated out of a population of 2,273 students in Bokkos, North Central Nigeria. Experimental and control groups were assigned to two schools each by the researcher using simple balloting technique. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The instrument for data collection was Basic Science and Technology Achievement Test (BSTAT). The instrument was validated by two experts in science education and test and measurement evaluation. The reliability of the instrument was established using cronbach alpha method and 0.81 was obtained Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research question, while ANCOVA was employed for testing the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The result revealed that students taught with natural and artificial instructional materials strategy outperformed those without. Gender did not significantly affect achievement in Basic Science and Technology. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that basic science and technology teachers should utilize natural and artificial instructional strategy in teaching which in turn enhance students’ achievement in the subject.